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“I’m going to check on Maria,” Rachel says.
Before I can cling to her, keep her by my side so Mom doesn’t bring up how tousled we look, Rachel is already making her way upstairs, practically running. Well, I guess this means Valentine’s Day is over.
It was the perfect night.
I really don’t want it to end with Mom confronting me. Dad still hasn’t gotten up from his place on the couch. I wonder if his neck hurts from craning it like that. He hasn’t taken his eyes off me and the bros since we came in. His eyes keep darting between us. Yep, something is up.
“How was it?” I ask Mom as Seth, Alex, and Hunter scatter away. It’s like they can smell something is about to go down. Maybe it has nothing to do with us, and something happened with Maria. Or maybe Mom wants to ask if she can stay here.
Ugh. I can already hear Rachel stomping her foot and Seth screaming no. I wouldn’t blame them either. Although, it’s the least we can do after Mom and Dad babysat for us.
“Oh, it was fine,” Mom says while walking into the kitchen.
Being the idiot I am, I follow her, only to realize she has me alone now. “Maria was okay?” I ask awkwardly while leaning against the refrigerator. “She didn’t cry? She ate well?”
“Why didn’t you tell me the whole lot of you are in a relationship with Rachel?”
Fuck. I should have known. She figured it out. “Shit,” I murmur while looking at my wrinkled jacket. We should have showered, tidied ourselves more thoroughly, done something. “How did you—”
“Your book.”
Fuck.
“Fuck!”
I turn, my eyes widening on Seth standing in the threshold, looking like he’s about to throttle me.
Mom has the audacity to giggle. She covers her mouth with a hand, something she usually does in an attempt to be polite. “It was pretty easy. I could tell the story was about you. Is Maria even my granddaughter?”
“No,” I murmur.
“She’s my daughter,” Seth says between his teeth. His eyes are glued to me. So much for having a lovely date night. “I told you everyone was going to figure it out!” he shouts while throwing his hands in the air. Leave it to Seth to be dramatic. “But no! You decided to go and publish it anyway and now everyone and their mother knows we’re fucking Rachel.”
“Shhh!” I shush Seth. “My dad—”
“Knows,” Mom finishes for me.
I grimace. “Not helping!”
Mom chuckles and shakes her head. She rests one hand on my shoulder, the other on Seth’s. “Don’t worry,” Mom says, giving us both a wink. “Your secret is safe with us. It’s not like your father and I have never swung before.”
I groan at that mental image.
“And you have a lovely little girl,” Mom says as she pats Seth shoulder. “But I expect a grandbaby or two from you.”
I hate the way she’s looking at me like I’m some sort of baby incubator.
“Yes,” I find myself saying.
“Now, you two better get to bed. I doubt little Maria will allow you to sleep in.”
With one last scowl from Seth, we both trudge out of the kitchen, past my father, and up the stairs to our bedrooms. We don’t say a word to each other as we enter our rooms, and I can’t help but worry that Mom has opened a wound that will never be healed.
Is Seth going to hold this over me for the rest of our lives? Will I be able to put up with his anger and distrust for much longer? We just overcame our problems—at least, so I thought. Now I can’t help but think that he will never forgive me.
